“DRUGS HAD RUINED MY LIFE; AFTER SHUNNING DRUGS, I AM A CHANGED MAN NOW”: FORMER DRUG ADDICT MANISH

Ludhiana, June 14, 2019: City resident 38-year-old Manish Saini was of 29 years of age when he got hooked to “chitta” drug and since then his life turned into living hell. He lost lakhs of rupees, his wife left him and was also involved into smuggling of liquor. “My life was literally ruined and I could feel that I was getting weak from within and had only few years left,” says Manish. “But one fine day, with the motivation of my mother Sudesh, I decided to shun drugs and become a clean man once again,” he recalls. And ever since, he has not looked back and since then, has managed to get 10 more drug addicts become clean of drugs. Manish now works as a manager at a shop selling raw material for hosiery industry in Shivpuri area of the city. While giving details about his life of a drug addict, Manish informs that he was very attached to his elder brother. “When my brother passed away, I felt low and shaken and that is why fell prey to the vicious circle of drugs. At that time I owned two cars, had around Rs 10 lakh bank balance and a house worth around Rs 12 lakh. But slowly, due to my addiction of “chitta”, my money and everything else started decreasing and within few years, I was left with nothing,” he recalls. Manish informs that to make ends meet, he entered into the world of liquor smuggling. “At that time, I used to focus only about “chitta” and nothing else bothered me. My family life got disturbed and one day, my wife left me. It was then that I realised that my life has no meaning to it,” he informs, while adding that his mother Sudesh always stood by him and motivated him to shun drugs. It was around an year back that he decided to leave drugs forever. His mother brought him to the drug de-addiction centre at Civil Hospital, Ludhiana. “Due to the motivation of my mother, I had strong will power to leave drugs and that is why, after taking medication for only around three weeks only, I managed to come clean on drugs. I want to inform everyone that the staff and doctors at the drug de-addition centre are one of the best, and it is because of them that my journey of drug de-addiction was easy. Also, my treatment was completely free of cost,” he informs. He says that some private drug de-addiction centres charge lakhs of rupees, but the drug addicts are still not able to leave drugs. But the Punjab government run drug de-addiction centre provides one of the best possible facilities. “Now I leave for work at 9:30 am and come back at 10 pm. I am working really hard because I want to prove that “chitta” addiction can be cured easily. I feel proud that due to my efforts, 10 other persons have also left this drug-addiction and are now leading a normal life.